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29 Oct 2012

You know when you just get a certain feeling from a band or a particular album? That's what happened when I put on Fabricant for the first time. I was at once rushed by visions of dystopic industrial landscapes, Gigeresque biomechanics, Lovecraftian themes and suggested topics of borderlining mental illness. Fabricant seems like a band sick of the typical death metal that relies so heavily on brutality, offensive lyrics and disgusting imagery. The very name "Fabricant" fits their concept of almost mystical, atmospheric technical death metal.

Let's get down to basics. Fabricant's demo CD from 2010 consists of 4 songs, the first of which "Prelude to Aberration" serves as a rather well fitting mood-setting intro. Right from the demented voices of the intro and the toning in of Legacy of Thine Delirium the listener is sent on a journey through industrial soundscapes that reminded me of early Morbid Angel, Nocturnus, early Decrepit Birth and Timeghoul, Gorguts and Demilich in their general disposition, but ultimately Fabricant has been succesful in creating their own unique sound. The roughly 14 minutes of the demo provide diverse experiences as heavy as cyclopean and ancient pistons of forgotten industrial complexes with a fitting dose of dementia.

According to the band's biography Fabricant actually started out as a small project to learn recording technique, and from what I'm hearing right now the involved parties are very able in producing the perfect sound required to complete the atmosphere that dominates the American band's demo. Everything from the eerie, exentric piano part in Staring at the Imprisoned and the weird, outré guitar pieces in Legacy of Thine Delirium and Sojourn just reeks of cosmic annihilation without relying on pinball machine sounds or in-your-face high speed tabbing.

In reference to my previous comparison between Fabricant and the Swedish death metal band Timeghoul I think Fabricant's demo is the kind of material that you will see re-issued on a large label in 15-20 years time. The absolutely otherworldly composition and songwriting of this demo means I'll have to give a 9/10. Truly memorable and astonishing.

25 Oct 2012

There are tons of bands in the world claiming to play death/thrash metal. But since death metal is inherently thrashy I've always had a hard time hearing any actual thrash in a lot of these bands. Then along came Legionary from the US with their 10 tracks of rolling tremolo thrash riffs, melodic solos and primal vocals.

What first struck me with their debut album "Arcane Divisions" from 2012 is the overwhelmingly imposing songwriting, and I mean this in a very good way. First comes thrashy d-beat parts, only to be overtaken by necksnapping death metal accompanied by the animalistic roaring of the band's vocalist. The band has noticable nods to the 80's while still maintaining a modern focus, which is especially apparent in their melodic solos.

At times the album does seem a bit genre-confused. This isn't normally a bad thing as mixing things up a bit can often save an album from becoming stale or tedious, but in this case the band's tendency to lean against the sounds of early melodic death metal rubs me the wrong way. Especially in tracks like Unfriendly Fire, where the riffs are predominantly light-weight and melody-based and the otherwise very detailed drumtracks aren't as prevalent as usual, does this tendency become apparent.

Suffice it to say that Arcane Divisions is no run-of-the-mill half-melodic death/thrash. Legionary maintain a true core of metal elements infused with hints of the 80's sound and as such have created a vicious mutant of fast yet crushing metal. 7/10 guitars.

19 Oct 2012

On their previous album, the debut "Murderer", Deus Otiosus show, with a rather convincing effort, that they harbor immense potential for death metal. On their second album "Godless" the Danish band goes on in this continuety and displays an on going contempt for life as they celebrate the end of humanity and grim extermination of civilization.

Deus Otiosus know that death metal isn't necessarily all about being the heaviest, most brutal band in existence. While some of their new tracks certainly are made of the heaviest material, a song like Death Dance shows us that crushing brutallity isn't tantamount to monstrous death metal.

On Godless it sounds like Deus Otiosus have toned down the actual death metal in favor for equally fitting elements, yet still maintaining a solid core of old school death metal. It most definitely still is the Deus Otiosus we came to know on Murderer, and their songwriting still rivals that of Morbid Angel, Immolation and others. Songs like Snakes of the Low, the crushing album opener, is a clear statement that the Danish band means business.

As a whole Godless is a effort on par with certain albums from the late 80's that have since become classics, and it would be an understatement to say that Deus Otiosus is probably one of the strongest current Danish death metal bands. Godless is brimming with memorable riffs as well as classic songwriting. Most definitely a keeper. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Snakes of the Low
2. In Harms Way
3. New Dawn
4. Pest Grave
5. Surrounded by the Dead
6. Cast from Heaven
7. Face the Enemy
8. Death Dance

14 Oct 2012

First impressions have always been important to me when I listen to a band. While some albums or bands grow on me with time some never really do anything for me, and I will almost always be more inticed to further listening if the first impression is great. With Inferius Torment I was expecting boring text book black metal. After all, with a name like that it's bound to be one big cliché, right? Well, sort of. There's nothing new under the sun regarding the songwriting on Ceremony of Godslaying, but then again it's probably some of the best blastbeat based black metal I've heard in recent years.

Ceremony of Godslaying is the Russian band's second full length effort. I find that the second album from a band is often a watered down version of the first album, but I'm having trouble seeing how this could be watered down from anything. It simply is that solid. It's got great vocals, a crystal clear production, drums that are fast and tighter than a nun and incredibly memorable riffs. In short, everything a black metal album of this type needs. Ceremony of Godslaying from 2012 appeals to me as a fan of Marduk, 1349, Gorgoroth and Dark Funeral and I've found that in regards to songwriting tracks like Diabolical Perversity and Funeral of Christian God fully measure up to classics such as Panzer Division Marduk, My Funeral, Procreating Satan or I Am Abomination.

Inferius Torment never lets their guard down. From start to finish Ceremony of Godslaying is a satanic torrent of blast beats, tremolo riffs and spewing hatred. Their recipe for destruction is simple yet effective, and during the almost 40 minutes that make up this album that recipe never grows stale. 8/10 guitars.

10 Oct 2012

Ah, grindcore. Is there anything that doesn't go great with grindcore? If there is, death and thrash metal isn't it. Proven time and time again by bands such as the horror themed Frightmare, Brain Famine resurrects the time-tested recipe for mosh-friendly death/thrash/grind with gusto and abrasive enthusiasm.

What the lyrics are about I have no idea, but then again I've never been that much of a lyric aficionado. But what I do know is that Brain Famine, two guys from Weymouth, Massachussets, know their grind. I'm guessing they've been listening a lot to bands like Macabre, Carcass and Ghoul, and like those bands they've got the heavy riffs, organic drumming and terrific production down. Whoever said that grindcore needs to sound shitty is an asshole and needs to be buried alive with a handful of spiders.

With just 6 songs on the EP you'd think that, given their predisposition to grindcore elements, it's gonna be a short one. Au contraire! The eponymous opus is a whopping 22 minutes in length, which is only a mere 7 minutes shorter than Slayer's magnum opus Reign in Blood. Not that those two compare. At all.

Brain Famine's first effort as a band is one that shows great understanding of how to put together awesome metal and grind. Though I've been heaping loads of praise upon the EP it's not all perfect. There is especially one track that annoys me slightly, namely Ingest, the third track. It sort of halts the otherwise monumental flow and momentum that the first two tracks create, and with it's incredible 5 minutes and 56 seconds it takes a lot of focus away when listening. It's not a bad track as such, but I would like it more if it was placed last on the EP and wasn't so damn long.
Brain Famine succeed in creating hugely enjoyable death/thrash/grind that I will likely be listening to for months to come. It may not be perfect, but it feels sufficiently polished and prepared to reignite my want for some Impetigo. 8/10 guitars.

5 Oct 2012

Malfeitor is an old death metal band hailing from Sweden. Despite their early year of creation they've had a lot of down-time and as such didn't start releasing material before 2011. Now, what if I told you that Malfeitor is a Swedish death metal band that DOESN'T have the famed Sunlight guitar-sound, would you believe it? Nowadays it's almost hard to come by Swedish death metal bands that aren't Grave-clones, but it would seem that this band has chosen to move in a different direction, which still involves plenty of the malevolent melodies that Sweden have become known for.

At first the album Dum Morior Orior didn't really do anything for me. It sounded like mundane, garden-variety death metal without anything out of the ordinary. And to be honest, Malfeitor really isn't that special, but the fact that they are old-timers in the terms of death metal shows greately on Dum Morior Orior, and after turning that shit way up on the stereo the straight up solid quality of the album hit me like a brick in the nuts. I cannot stress enough that the production of this album makes it worth listening to very loud.

However, Malfeitor's Dum Morior Orior is an album filled with tracks that are only moderately enjoyable on their own. The band have crafted a malicious sound aswell as a grim recipe for song writing, but on their own the tracks pale in comparison to the highly memorable opuses of other bands such as Bloodbath.
The album lacks hooks and as such is mostly enjoyable as a whole. The otherwise good songwriting simply can't do it on its own. If I were to point out a few tracks that one should listen to in order to get a fulfilling view of the album I would recommend Scenes from a Slaughterhouse, Rolling with Corpses and Beyond the Horrorizon, which despite its name is actually a really great song.
In closing Dum Morior Orior is 11 tracks, roughly 40 minutes, of death metal that WILL serve its purpose if you give it the chance to do so. 7/10 guitars.